ShazamFest: The Perfect Weekend Getaway for Summer!
Shazamfest. Photo Ashley Gaujean.
It’s that magical time of the year again! If you are not familiar let me fill you in:
If you’re looking for a modest yet absolutely wild weekend getaway away go to this. The community that Shazamfest creates with its attendees is something so special I will always return (going for round four).
Already going on 18 years and founded by Ziv Przytyk, this festival combines circus, music, art, and food.
Are you wondering how a community is built using the power of Shazam?! Well, located at Barnston West, QC along with these really fun activities, you also camp over on a grassy hill and bring a pod of friends to create your own little village. ShazamFest truly has something for everyone. Sometimes the word “festival” can sound intimidating, but what makes this one special is that you have the complete freedom to choose how involved you would like to be. If you want to stay back on the camping side and enjoy the music from afar and eat snacks you can do just that. If you want to be right in the action, let me tell you about what you shouldn’t risk missing.
If punk is your thing you have to make sure to catch Ultrptérodactyle (sounds like a funky dinosaur), a franco pop-punk-grunge band, and General Fools, a local band from Sherbrooke with an absolute badass on vocals. If you are not able to make it the first day of the festival because of work, that is okay because the entire Shazam weekend is jam packed with other bands and activities to keep you busy.
If you think having children could be an excuse not to attend, too bad! The entire weekend will have the kid zone returning with age appropriate shows and workshops to keep them busy and occupied if you want to have your adult time.
A great thing about this community is how safe and familiar it feels even though it could be your first time attending. Seeing the way that the children and adults are able to equally have an amazing time is a lovely thing to see. A FamFood meal plan is also available for purchase at $25 per child which comes with three meals and snacks.
All guests are welcomed to bring their own food and grills but it is strongly suggested to avoid using single-use plastic materials as sustainability and low waste is really important to the ShazamFest community. Last year, there were only 10 bags of garbage when attendance was close to 2000 people! The Shazam crew even went through every garbage bag to make sure that all recyclable materials were properly sorted.
The weekend will be moving along with musical genres such as Brazilian, Hip-hop, Alt-rock and Ska. I would strongly suggest checking out El Balcón who will be playing the main stage on Saturday night. El Balcón is a latin band with urban folk influences and they will even have a dancer on stage dancing in a Veracuz, Mexico style.
As it approaches I can’t stop thinking about the Shazam burger, equipped with farm fresh beef, double patties, cheese, and bacon.*Droooooools*. The hardworking team at the various food counters are there to help you fulfill your most indulgent food desires as well as the sensible ones.
Please do yourself a favour by attending this extremely fun weekend. I have only covered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what ShazamFest offers. I guarantee you will leave with a fuzzy heart and absolutely wonderful memories.
For more information, please see the ShazamFest website here.
ShazamFest will be happening on July 13, 14, 15, 16 at ShazamFest 2722 chemin de Way’s Mills, Barnston Ouest, Quebec.
See you there!
